Educational performance and child labor in Paraguay

In this paper, the schooling attainment and labor characteristics of those aged 12–19 years is assessed using data from the 1990 household survey from Paraguay. Although schooling is compulsory to age 13, it was found that 28% of those 12 years of age are already out of school. Among those out of school, 19% work formally in the labor market and contribute about a quarter of total family income. Among the 12-year-olds still in school, one-quarter have repeated a grade or more. The analysis suggests that language strongly influences school attainment and performance. Those who speak only Guarani at home may receive equal access to schooling, but their performance in school (in terms of years of attainment and grade repetition), is considerably inferior to that of Spanish-only and bilingual pupils. The number of siblings was found not to have had much of an effect on school enrollment, although it did have a significant impact on the probability of child labor. These findings may be evidence of ‘specialization’ in the household, whereby some children work, while their siblings are permitted to attend school and concentrate on studying. The results indicate that subsidies to poor households may be necessary to enable them to maintain their children in school for at least the duration of the primary cycle.